Method and Apparatus for Controlling Operation Voltage of Processor Core, and Processor System Including the Same

1. An apparatus for controlling an operation voltage of a processor core, comprising: a voltage supplier supplying the operation voltage to the processor core; an operation voltage searching core requesting the processor core to execute a program and controlling the operation voltage based on whether the program has been normally operated; and a wake-up timer transmitting a wake-up signal to the operation voltage searching core, wherein the operation voltage searching core performs the controlling of the operation voltage in the case in which it receives the wake-up signal from the wake-up timer.

2. The apparatus for controlling an operation voltage of a processor core of claim 1 , wherein the operation voltage searching core sets the operation voltage to a first voltage level, and sets the operation voltage to a second voltage level higher than the first voltage level in the case in which the program is not normally operated in a state of the first voltage level.

3. The apparatus for controlling an operation voltage of a processor core of claim 1 , wherein the operation voltage searching core sets the operation voltage to a first voltage level, and determines the first voltage level to be a minimum voltage of the operation voltage in the case in which the program is normally operated in a state of the first voltage level.

4. The apparatus for controlling an operation voltage of a processor core of claim 1 , wherein the operation voltage searching core requests the wake-up timer to transmit the wake-up signal after a predetermined delay time in the case in which the program is normally operated.

5. The apparatus for controlling an operation voltage of a processor core of claim 1 , wherein the voltage supplier supplies a first voltage required for operating the operation voltage searching core.

6. The apparatus for controlling an operation voltage of a processor core of claim 5 , wherein the voltage supplier turns off the first voltage in the case in which the operation voltage searching core determines that the program has been normally operated.

7. The apparatus for controlling an operation voltage of a processor core of claim 1 , further comprising a voltage level converter converting a voltage level of a signal output by the operation voltage searching core and a voltage level of a signal output by the processor core so as to be the same as each other.

8. The apparatus for controlling an operation voltage of a processor core of claim 1 , further comprising a voltage controller controlling the voltage supplier to control the operation voltage in the case in which it is requested to control the operation voltage from the operation voltage searching core.

9. A method for controlling an operation voltage of a processor core, the method comprising: receiving, by an operation voltage searching core, a wake-up signal from a wake-up timer; supplying, by the operation voltage searching core, a first voltage level to the processor core in response to the wake-up signal; requesting, by the operation voltage searching core, the processor core to execute a program in a state of the first voltage level; checking, by the operation voltage searching core, whether the processor core has normally executed the program; and determining, by the operation voltage searching core, the first voltage level to be a minimum level of the operation voltage in the case in which it is determined in the checking that the processor core has normally executed the program.

10. The method for controlling an operation voltage of a processor core of claim 9 , further comprising: supplying, by the operation voltage searching core, a second voltage level higher than the first voltage level to the processor core in the case in which it is determined in the checking that the processor core has not normally executed the program.

11. The method for controlling an operation voltage of a processor core of claim 10 , further comprising: requesting, by the operation voltage searching core, the processor core to execute the program in a state of the second voltage level; and determining, by the operation voltage searching core, the second voltage level to be a minimum level of the operation voltage in the case in which the processor core normally executes the program.

12. The method for controlling an operation voltage of a processor core of claim 9 , further comprising: requesting, by the operation voltage searching core, a voltage supplier to turn off a voltage supplied to the operation voltage searching core in the case in which it is determined in the checking that the processor core has normally executed the program.

13. The method for controlling an operation voltage of a processor core of claim 9 , wherein the requesting includes: downloading the program to a memory connected to the processor core; and requesting the processor core to execute the program stored in the memory.

14. The method for controlling an operation voltage of a processor core of claim 9 , wherein the checking includes: reading a result value of the program executed by the processor; and comparing the result value of the program with a pre-possessed value.

15. A processor system comprising: a processor including a main memory and a processor core executing a program stored in the main memory; and an operation voltage controlling apparatus controlling an operation voltage of the processor core depending on whether or not the processor core has normally executed the program, wherein the operation voltage controlling apparatus includes: a voltage supplier supplying the operation voltage to the processor core; an operation voltage searching core downloading the program to the main memory, requesting the processor core to execute the program, and controlling the operation voltage based on whether the program is normally operated; and a wake-up timer transmitting a wake-up signal to the operation voltage searching core, wherein the operation voltage searching core performs the controlling of the operation voltage in the case in which it receives the wake-up signal from the wake-up timer.

16. The processor system of claim 15 , wherein the operation voltage controlling apparatus supplies a first voltage level as the operation voltage to the processor core, and supplies a second voltage level higher than the first voltage level to the processor core in the case in which the processor core has not normally executed the program in a state of the first voltage level.

17. The processor system of claim 15 , wherein the operation voltage controlling apparatus supplies a first voltage level as the operation voltage to the processor core, and continuously supplies the first voltage level as the operation voltage to the processor core in the case in which the processor core normally executes the program in a state of the first voltage level.

18. The processor system of claim 15 , wherein the voltage supplier supplies a first voltage required for operating the operation voltage searching core, and the voltage supplier does not supply the first voltage to the operation voltage searching core in the case in which the operation voltage searching core determines that the program has been normally operated.

19. The method for controlling an operation voltage of a processor core of claim 9 , wherein the method comprises requesting, by the operation voltage searching core, the wake-up timer to transmit the wake-up signal after a predetermined delay time in the case in which the program is normally operated.